With the continuous development of digital home concept applications, a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) device serves as an apparatus directly facing users, a good user experience thereof undoubtedly being a big selling point of the DLNA device.
DLNA devices may be classified into home network devices, mobile handheld devices and home interoperability devices.
A home network device includes a multimedia resource server such as a Digital Media Server (DMS), a multimedia player such as a Digital Media Player (DMP), a Digital Media Renderer (DMR), a multimedia controller such as a Digital Media Controller (DMC), and a multimedia printer such as a Digital Media Printer (DMPr).
The mobile handheld device includes a mobile multimedia resource server such as a Mobile Digital Media Server (M-DMS), a mobile multimedia player such as a Mobile Digital Media Player (M-DMP), a mobile multimedia uploader such as a Mobile Digital Media Uploader (M-DMU), a mobile multimedia downloader such as a Mobile Digital Media Downloader (M-DMD), and a mobile multimedia controller such as a Mobile Digital Media Controller (M-DMC).
The home interoperability device includes a Mobile Network Connectivity Function (M-NCF) and a Mobile Interoperability Unit (MIU).
The multimedia resource server may be any device having a file storage function in DLNA interconnection devices, and the multimedia player may be any device having a display function and an audio/video playing function in the DLNA interconnection devices.
3 interaction modes of playing media resources are specified in a DLNA protocol:
1. a multimedia resource server can actively push stored audio/video files to any one DMR device for playing;
2. a multimedia player can actively search the multimedia resource server and select the audio/video files in the multimedia resource server for playing;
3. the audio/video files in the multimedia resource server can be read via the multimedia controller, and the selected audio/video files are pushed to the multimedia player for playing.
In currently existing DLNA applications, multiple multimedia resource servers may exist in a digital home network, each multimedia resource server is provided with some resources in which users are interested, the audio/video files in these multimedia resource servers can be played in different multimedia players, the multimedia resource servers may actively push multimedia resources to the multimedia players, but the multimedia resource servers do not care whether the multimedia resources can be played in the multimedia players. The multimedia players will search for media resources in some multimedia resource servers for playing, but the multimedia players do not know whether to support the searched media resources. Similarly, a user may select some media resources from the multiple multimedia resource servers as his/her own play lists, but it is impossible for the user to enjoy all media in all lists once, so that in a next usage process, the user needs to re-select his/her own media resources to be played. The media resources in the multimedia resource servers in the digital home network continuously increase, and it is complicated for the user to select a resource and a playing device from huge media resource libraries in the multimedia resource servers and to judge whether the playing device can play this resource, thereby influencing the user experience. For example, the user searches for the resources each time and needs to select the multimedia players each time.